NCJ Number
223952
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 98 Issue: 2 Dated: Winter 2008 Pages: 653-686
Date Published
2008
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This article examines how the male demand for commercial sexual services stimulates and sustains the ever-growing sex trafficking industry, and argues that it is both feasible and effective to fight sex trafficking through educational and legislative measures aimed at reducing the male demand for commercial sexual services.
Abstract
By addressing the key driver of the global sex trade, male demand for commercial sexual services, it is hoped that the rampant sex slavery trade of today will soon follow the path of the African slave trade into the dark chapters of history. It is argued that it is both feasible and effective to reduce male demand by changing the attitudes and behaviors of boys and young men towards prostitution and sex trafficking. Therefore, if the United States is serious about eradicating sex trafficking, the most effective way is to adopt a comprehensive, multistage, demand-oriented strategy that includes both educational programs and legal incentives. The first stage of this demand-oriented strategy is for the United States to enact a Federal abolitionist law similar to Sweden’s Prohibition Act. The second stage is to combat male demand through the re-education of johns and the reshaping of male norms in general. In addition to its domestic efforts to address male demand, the United States must initiate and lead a global effort to combat sex trafficking through demand-oriented measures. In summation, the most effective way to drive immediate and long-term change is to apply pressure on the “weak link” in the sex trafficking chain: the male demand.